Please Consider Supporting "Fight for Space"
Fight for Space: NASA & Space Exploration Documentary, Kickstarter
“Fight for Space” is a feature length documentary film that explores the economic and cultural benefits of human space exploration, and examines the historical and political events that have led to the decline of human space exploration. “Fight for Space” presents viewpoints from Astronauts, politicians and staff, scientists, former NASA officials, commercial space entrepreneurs, and many other individuals in the space community. A complete list of interviewees is available at the bottom of this page.”
I was considering it until I read the description on the Kickstarter page. While they do seem to have done a good job interviewing all sides the description leads me to believe that this film is going to turn into an SLS/Orion bash fest.
While most of us in the space community agree that the space program isn’t doing so hot it seems that many people’s solution is simply, “cancel SLS/Orion and Elon Musk will descend from the sky with rockets for all.” (note: I actually like Elon Musk himself. Its just his fans sometimes make him out to be some sort of supernatural being).
I am sorry but commercial space is not the answer to every problem. Is it an answer to a lot of issues? Yes, but not all. Instead of fighting each other the space community needs to stand together and support both SLS/Orion and commercial space.
We hang together or we will most assuredly hang separately. I have seen it happen before. When CxP was canceled a lot of the unmanned probe people were downright giddy thinking that more money was gonna go to them. They openly supported the cancelation. Then surprise surprise a few years later the President proposes cuts to planetary science. Luckily Congress intervened but you see my point.
Joe,
Although I do support your points and your pessimism regarding this film, I encourage you to visit their YouTube page and browse all the video clips/teasers available for viewing. This film’s directive and mission is to open up dialogue and conversation regarding the focus/purpose of NASA as well as the importance of our past, present, and future activity in space.
You’re absolutely right that there are misplaced fanatics out there who embrace Elon Musk without seeing the entire picture and all elements involved; however, the interviewees that took part in this film are for space exploration on every level: planetary, colonization, economic/societal benefits, understanding ourselves, and ultimately, exploring the frontier in the most efficient way possible that allows us to do everything, not one or the other.
The reason this film is so necessary right now is because we can’t continue to have the same conversations over and over, and watch people who lack vision, will, and ambition continually divest from space exploration (be it NASA or elsewhere) and then persistently complain about the economy while pointing fingers and digging us deeper into the trenches. We clearly have history on our side as an example of what to do and what works. Funding and supporting exploration on every level heeds progress on every level. It bolsters scientific literacy which, in turn, churns out more capable, critically-thinking, skillfully diverse problem-solvers who enable the Elon Musks of the world to not be so few and far between.
If we’re going to have to keep driving into the future with legislative officials at the wheel, it’s fallen into our hands to use every means we have to communicate, act, and ultimately, change minds in terms of our future as a collective species and the direction we must move. We need all hands in. Personally, I await a future where we go to space together, all space programs united, representatives of the common ground we all share — Earth.
I’m not suggesting that this film is going to incite a revolution of sorts, but it definitely is the first of its kind to not present a fantasy world that people can merely dream about, or cheerleading for one specific program or way of doing things. ‘Fight for Space’ speaks for us all, and presents to us what most of us already know but maybe have trouble articulating to others, or to the people that need to hear it more than others.
This film will help educate people from all over the world – young, old, and generations ahead – on the significance NASA/human spaceflight has had on our lives, and the cosmic perspective we must all share if we wish to take part in such monumental endeavors yet again.
Ad astra per aspera*
Rich (aka Sagan Sense)
Editor, Tumblr Science Community
Author, ‘Sagan Sense’ (sagansense.tumblr.com)
PR — ‘I want to be an Astronaut’ (theastronautfilm.com)
PR — ‘Fight for Space’ (fightforspace.com)
PR — ‘Endeavorist’ (endeavorist.org)
PR — ‘SciNote’ (scinote.org)
Good post and I like what you’re saying. This definitely seems like something we need.
I thought the exact opposite. I thought it was going to push big government solutions only. Even did a post on it on facebook… wow .. aint that a kick.
Quite a kick indeed. Maybe we both have misinterpreted the point of this documentary. I heard the director say that maybe the best way forward is not arguing about launch vehicles. Maybe it will just be, “This is why space is important and here are some people’s ideas to explore space” rather than endorsing a particular architecture.
That shows you just how far apart we are…and if that is true…we are done.
Joe and I have had a running disagreement on most things on government approach to space for years. For everything we agree on we disagree on six other points. But it hones are arguements and helps move us towards each other. Hardy makes us “done”.
Good post Joe…Bravo.
Ummm…are there any young people in the space industry?
Golly, I feel old just looking at that list of interviewees. Isn’t it the young’uns what are going to be doing this fighting for space thing? Why do they do it? What are their visions for our space future? Or are there even any youngsters who have a voice? If so, where are they?
Texting. Sorry…that was unhelpful…I train a lot of millennials…maybe I’m just getting grumpy in my old age.
!?!
My common complaint. I wonder why everyone interviewed – including me – is pushing 60.
My oldest son soon will be graduating as a newly minted mechanical engineer. He wants to work in aerospace. So that’s one youngling accounted for! ( Of course his old man works in aerospace and so did his grandfather, so all he’s really doing is keeping up the family tradition!)
But do we really have any say in a space program? Dennis Wingo posted new article which he wrote, “None of it has ever made sense to me, so I have spent time researching the history to try to understand why we were able to do it then, and why it has been so hard since Apollo to make progress.”
and
“The U.S. has always had two space programs, the first being the one that the politicians wanted, and the one that was sold to the American people.”
https://denniswingo.wordpre…
I read this as us commoners have very little influence. Most of us space buffs are techies but almost all politicos are business and lawyers. Go to a party of businessmen and lawyers, you will find starting a conversation about space exploration (unless emphasis is about money), you will find such interest will last no more than 15 seconds.
mfwright —
It’s not abnormal for us to feel left out or that we are merely participants along for the ride, but keep in mind that we have never lived during or never has there ever been, a scientifically literate society. We are in the midst of a tipping point where our technology has the capability to educate us faster at a more successive and accessible rate. The methods of how we’ve been taught and teach are changing, having to evolve with the current rate of changing information itself. Disruptive technologies which were birthed out of our activity and exploration of space are continuously propelling us on an upward trajectory of exponential growth.
Peter Diamandis speaks about this frequently (https://www.ted.com/talks/p….
I certainly agree that it’s quite easy to be pessimistic about the future and more relative — our ability to influence it. But we, the people, have crafted it thus far. Yes, the mainstream media/entertainment industry and mega corporations “give the people what they want”, but that’s precisely their downfall. They are at the will of the unaware and uneducated individuals who sway each other in groups. As long as people remain scientifically illiterate, unaware of the true problems that should concern us and how to fix them while not possessing the mental faculties and intelligence to indeed fix them, the “power” will not be removed from the hands of those who deem their short-term profits are of higher priority and significance than the perpetual problems of our society.
I responded to someone who messaged us via Tumblr and cited an example we must keep in mind at times like this: we saved the Hubble Space Telescope: http://fightforspacefilm.tu…
We, as a collective society, are merely coming online at this point. Over 200 million people are still illiterate and not so less than that are without access to this evolving digital archive of information and knowledge we call the World Wide Web. This is a problem currently being undertaken by Elon Musk, Google, and others. Wasteful spending due to the fuel we use to crawl out of Earth’s gravity well…that problem is being tackled. Clean water for all…Dean Kamen’s Slingshot invention has solved this. Electric/green/efficient vehicles (not to mention autonomous) are being developed as we speak by Google, Toyota, Tesla, MIT, and others. Supercomputing will enable faster data processing light years ahead and faster than the entire human populous by A.I. such as Watson. Small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals from all over the world are introducing new ideas and bringing more to the conversation we refer to as the “global stage” than ever before, and that’s poised to continue at an accelerating rate.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the future, always. But there’s no denying that we’re living in one of the greatest times to witness along the human journey. And through disruptive technologies such as the Internet, social media, crowdfunding/sourcing, online voting/petitioning, global surveys, connectivity in real-time with others all over the world…this kind of public/individual involvement regarding forward-thinking activism was never factored into legislature and these traditional (unsustainable) methods of orchestrating a capitalistic society. We’re literally teetering on the brink of change on a scale we may not be able to fathom just now.
Again, I’m not saying this film is going to be revolutionary, but it has the power to influence and change minds, steer youth toward ways to mitigate change in ways today’s entrepreneurs and engineers may not have thought of yet, and like any late-to-be-recognized-great endeavor, this film may cause reverberations well beyond the next few years or decade, if even for non-biased historical insight on the what, where, how, when, why of generations far ahead.
Ad astra per aspera*
I have had plenty of space topic conversations with business people and yes business people like to talk about business, no surprise there but usually you can have a converstation about big things in the news. Like a rover hits mars, et cetera. but you can not fault people from not always being interested in subjects they are just so divorced from. If you strike up a conversation about sports, as a general rule most will have either been active in the sport, were in close friendships with people, in any case they are a lot closer to the subject.
There have been how many American astronauts . 550? This is in over 50 years. Astronauts are rarer than congressional members, when you are so far away from the subject it just doesn’t seem to hold interest.
With commercial space becoming operational and a commercial destination develops time will take care ot it.
Like the auto .. the airplane etc in it’s infancy the wasn’t interest, people did their day to day interests. The reason it didn’t have with space was because it is the only transportation that wasn’t immediatly pushed into the private sector.
Perhaps the film could involve the public in ways we bloggers have been unable to accomplish. At the moment we seem to be ignored.
Just backed this. The national conversation (or lack thereof) is sorely missing this information, and I’m excited we may get to see it so soon.
The trailer is intriguing…. But other than “Obama/current policy BAD, space GOOD!”, what is it actually arguing for?
It quotes/interviews pro-Apollo people, pro-shuttle people, pro-SLS people, pro-commercial people – these are groups that rarely if ever agree on how things should be done, so what is the right way forward?
Simply spending on space isn’t enough – you need to do it the right way. I kept hoping that the trailer would offer some hint of what the films AGENDA is, but nothing. And I won’t support it until it tips its hand about what it actually wants to accomplish.
The phrase “go fever” makes me itch. The reason we got stuck in LEO since 1972 is that we made exploration into a race, a feverish undertaking. We need a thoughtful and sustained approach to the exploration of the universe, not emotion-fueled bursts that inevitably fall flat on their faces when the fever passes (as they always do).